CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Work on the outside of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, set to open next year, is nearly done. But the project is millions of dollars over budget.

Eyewitness News anchor Blair Miller went through years of city records and found out a number of projects have cost taxpayers more money than expected. He looked at the 12 major city projects dating back to 1988 and compared how much they were supposed to cost to the real cost.

Those projects included the Charlotte Convention Center, the Time Warner Cable Arena, the LYNX light rail and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, along with several new fire stations.

Miller found that combined they went over their projected costs by $82,674,537.

The old Charlotte Coliseum was built less than a percent over budget -- 0.4 percent to be precise.

But the other projects were much more, like the convention center at 7 percent over budget, the LYNX at 8 percent and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, now $34.5 million over budget, at 21 percent over budget.

Three fire stations also went over budget. For example, Station 39 just opened on Providence Road and cost 26 percent more than projected.

Eyewitness News showed the findings to Jim Douglas, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte professor specializing in government budgets.

“What percentage concerns you?” Miller asked.

“I would be concerned once you get over 7 to 8 percent off,” Douglas said.

Six of the projects went over by at least that much. But he said the three fire stations really stood out.

“I would suspect that we've made some kind of error in the forecast assumptions, or something else is going on there,” he said.

So Eyewitness News asked City Engineer Jeb Blackwell about the numbers. He said building supply prices have increased for projects that were planned long ago.

“On these particular projects, concrete and steel have been big drivers on price,” he said.

Eyewitness News also asked about Fire Station 39 -- the one that was 26 percent over budget.

“How do you explain that to people?” Miller asked.

“Part of that was escalation. Part of that overrun, nearly 400,000, was added scope and was used for green elements,” Blackwell said.

The green elements included solar panels, which can save money long-term but cost more initially.

“Can you understand why this may frustrate taxpayers?” Miller asked.

“I understand that it is, and it is something we strive to not happen -- go over budget,” Blackwell said.

Last year, when the NASCAR Hall of Fame needed millions of additional dollars, City Council Member Patsy Kinsey was one of the few who voted against it.

“My concern was that we should've known ahead of time the exhibit was going to cost us that much more,” she said.

She said that based on what Eyewitness News found, she'll look at future projects differently.

“As an elected official, I'll be asking more questions upfront and say, ‘Do you really think this is the cost it's going to be?’” she said.

Blackwell said that with the economy the way it is, bids for projects are coming in way under what the cost would've been two years ago. Douglas said that should keep projects from going over budget, and if not, he said, it could indicate a real problem with the budget process at the city level.

PDF: List Of Overbudget Projects